Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a cooling method therefor, and in particular to an information processing apparatus with a variable configuration and a cooling method therefor.
Description of the Related Art
In information processing apparatuses such as MFPs, printers, client PCs, and servers, the amount of heat generated by a CPU increases with an increase in the amount of information to be processed, and it is thus necessary to cool the information processing apparatuses. To cool the information processing apparatuses, a cooling fan incorporated in the information processing apparatuses is used, but the cooling fan makes operating noise. On the other hand, there is an increasing demand from users to silence the information processing apparatuses, and it is thus preferred that the cooling fan is not continuously run. For example, the cooling fan is stopped in a low power consumption state such as a standby mode in which power is supplied to the CPU but no power is supplied to some of the other component elements. Alternatively, the information processing apparatuses are equipped with a temperature sensor that measures a temperature of the CPU, and the cooling fan is run according to the temperature of the CPU.
The information processing apparatuses are ordinarily equipped with not only the CPU but also a hard disk drive (hereafter referred to as “the HDD”) for storing data. The HDD as well as the CPU generates heat while it is running, but even after processing by the CPU is ended, access to the HDD is allowed, and hence even in the low power consumption state, the HDD may be run to generate heat, and as a result, heated to a high temperature. Moreover, when the information processing apparatuses shift into the low power consumption state and stop the cooling fan after continuously executing a print job for several hours, the HDD heated to a high temperature due to access during the execution of the print job is not easily cooled.
In recent years, there has been a growing demand for ensuring integrity of information in the information processing apparatuses, and hence a technique to store data in a multiplexed manner, for example, mirroring control that is a control technique to store the same data in a plurality of HDDs is used. In information processing apparatuses to which mirroring control is applied, there is a plurality of HDDs which are heating sources, and when one of the HDDs is replaced with a new HDD, data is copied (rebuilt) from another HDD to the new HDD, and hence the frequency with which the HDD runs is increased. As a result, the amount of heat generation in the information processing apparatuses considerably increases. Namely, recent information processing apparatuses to which mirroring control is applied are likely to be heated to a high temperature, and there is a fear of breakdown of HDDs.
To cope with this, there has been proposed a technique that uses not only a temperature sensor that measures a temperature of a CPU but also, for example, a temperature sensor that measures a temperature of another component element such as an HDD and controls operation of a cooling fan according to measured temperatures of the respective component elements (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-330913). According to this technique, even if the measured temperature of the CPU is low, the cooling fan is run as long as the measured temperature of the HDD is high, and this prevents the HDD from being heated to a high temperature and breaking down.
However, the technique described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-330913 requires a plurality of temperature sensors, and hence the cost of an information processing apparatus becomes high. Moreover, there may be cases where an optional board for expanding functions is added to or an HDD is added to an information processing apparatus, but according to the technique described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-330913, no temperature sensors that measure temperatures of the added component elements are provided. Thus, according to the technique described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-330913, when component elements are added to the information processing apparatus, it is impossible to control operation of the cooling fan with consideration given to cooling of the added component elements. Namely, in the existing information processing apparatuses, appropriate cooling at low cost is difficult.